The Hindu 18.01.2010

Delay in construction of bridges inconveniences road users

Staff Reporter

Photo: E. Lakshmi Narayanan

Not completed: The delay in construction of a bridge in Ananda Irakkam has put people in Salem city to much hardship. —

SALEM: The delay in the construction of three bridges across the Tirumanimutharu River channel in the city remains a cause for serious concern.

Thousands of vehicle users have been put to hardship due to the delay.

The Salem Corporation had taken up the construction of bridges at Ananda Irakkam, near old bus stand and at Gun Point as a part of the second phase of Tirumanimutharu River Improvement Project.

The State Government allotted a sum of Rs. 31.5 crore for carrying out the second phase of the project.

The second phase is aimed at lining the bed and bunds of Tirumanimutharu, a major river-turned-sewer that traverses through the heart of the city, 590 metres upstream starting from Anaimedu and 2,210 metres downstream stating from Apsara Theatre.

The construction of bridges was moving at a snail’s pace, putting a large number of vehicle users to hardship.

The traffic was also diverted in other routes in order to carry out the construction.

This resulted in traffic snarls near the old bus stand, first and second agraharams.

The officials had diverted the flow of sewage into various other channels. In the recent rains, all these channels overflowed flooding the residential colonies.

Residential colonies such as Kitichipalayam and Narayanan Nagar are worst affected due to overflow of sewage channels.

Collector J. Chandrakumar inspected the works and inquired about the reasons for the delay.

He directed the officials to speed up the work. “But the works were still moving slowly,” vehicle users point out.

Civic officials earlier claimed that the project would be completed by the end of December.

Officials now say that the works will be completed only by March 2010.

The Hindu 18.01.2010

Clean-up of beachfront taken up

Staff Reporter

— File Photo

A sea turtle laying its eggs on the beach in Neelankarai.

CHENNAI: In an effort to make the beach safer for Olive Ridley turtles during the nesting season, a clean-up of the beachfront along the Theosophical Society near the broken bridge was undertaken here on Sunday by college students, conservationists and residents.

“We have a duty to keep the beaches clean and safe for the turtles,” said Akila Balu of the Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTCN). “They have been nesting along these coasts for thousands of years. Just 20 years ago, we used to find 100 nesting sites per kilometre. Now it has come down to 10 per kilometre.”

Turtles usually nest and hatch between January and May.

Gravid mother turtles need to dig deep holes to lay eggs, and trash acts as a big hindrance.

“Apart from those who litter on the beach, a lot of garbage also comes from the Adyar river which gets deposited on the coast by the sea,” said Nithyanand Jayaraman, an environmental activist.

“The turtles cannot dig through the garbage to deposit their eggs.”

He added that clean-ups organised by the Chennai Corporation are deficient and community-driven efforts are meant to evolve a model to do it differently.

Two months ago, morning walkers who use the Elliots beach initiated a clean-up with the help of the Chennai Corporation but most of the garbage was left behind in plastic bags at the beach which subsequently got buried in sand.

A significant part of the close to six tonnes of garbage collected on Sunday was plastic bags containing trash.

Archanaa Seker, a volunteer, said: “Everyone loves to come to the beach but no one takes care of it. Clean-ups like this are meant to show what the young can do.”

This is the first in a series of clean-ups that have been planned on the stretch from broken bridge to the Governor’s bungalow in Besant Nagar. Republic Day will be celebrated through a community clean-up of the Urur-Olcott Kuppam beach.

On January 30, a massive voluntary clean-up of Elliots beach, in which anyone is welcome to participate, is being organised.

The trash gathered on that day will be used to build a garbage sculpture at the beach to show everyone what we have been doing to our beaches.